Have You Ever Seen A Shattered Dream?

I don't mean a dejected person, moping around because their hopes have been dashed. What I mean is, have you ever seen a shattered dream captured on film? Well, today is your lucky day.

Three weeks ago or so, the mother of one of the teachers on campus here (another American) sent a package and included some goodies for Stacy and I. My request? Cinnamon Life cereal.

Unfortunately, in transit, most of the items in the package exploded or were shaken open, including a can of "spider spray" insecticide for the friend whose mother mailed the box. So, for the better part of a month while the box was in transit, the insecticide made its way into my box of Life cereal, and ultimately into the bag itself, soaking the cereal.

I knew as soon as I tasted it that it was tainted, but lets be honest - I see 1 to 2 boxes of cereal a year, so throwing it out just didn't seem like an option. As I wrestled with whether to throw out the Life cereal over my second bowl of cereal (yep), Stacy made the decision for me - she threw it all out, into the trashcan. 

Thus, my shattered dream. Caught on film.

Gentiana 2.0

Almost exactly a year ago, I went on a hike with my friend Justin up a mountain called Gambo Mtn. Near the top, I saw some really pretty blue flowers that seemed hearty (growing at 17,000 feet) as well as cute (yeah, I said it), so I decided to dig them up to try and transplant them in our dorm room.

The saga of trying to grow the transplanted flowers, called "Gentiana Phyllocalyx," didn't exactly turn out in my favor, though I did manage to keep some dirt watered for the better part of a year. The flowers never bloomed again after I dug them up, so I'm guessing round 1 was a bust.

Update #1

Update #2

Not one to readily admit defeat (I'm going to go with a "Death Before Dishonor" motto for this project), I have been looking to redeem myself - and what do you know, hiking Chongmu Mountain offered me a second chance!

While hiking up on Chongmu, up at roughly the same altitude as I had been on Gambo Mtn, I started seeing the same beautiful blue flowers. "This is my chance," I thought. So I pulled out the aluminum foil from my recently eaten sandwich and cut out two Gentiana flowers and their root clods and brought them back with me.

Gentiana Phyllocalyx in its natural environment, right before I dug it up.

Based on my track record, this might be the last time you see these little guys alive...

Let the transplantation begin...

My two beauties.

Close-up.

Cleaning out the cans I had been using as planters, I decided to put both flowers in the same can (an "all my eggs in one basket" type situation) and focus all my efforts on keeping that can full of flowers alive.

The previous tenants of my growing cans: nothing and weeds.

Like my cans? Cleaned out and ready to go.

The old "2-in-1"

Please don't die, little guys... We could be friends?

Est - C.S.

A recent post had me pretty excited about a new imported drink by a Thai company called Est. Their cola is a dead ringer for RC Cola, which goes super well with the Korean Moon Pie knock off we have around here for a synthetic Southern treat.

Well, a return trip to the import store proffered yet another gem from Est - their take on Cream Soda.

This anti-freeze green soda is just what the doctor ordered. Well, if the doctor were Thai, and ripping off another doctor's work...

Yes please!

A Fat Kid on a Bowl of Jelly Beans

I had a grapefruit for breakfast today. What's that you say? Not an important piece of information to blog about? Well, that's where you're wrong.

When I lived in the great United States of America, I had a grapefruit for breakfast every day. It's pretty much the best way there is to start your day.

Since moving to less green pastures, fruit has become much harder to come by. Citrus fruits most of all. However, Stace spotted two grapefruits at the store the other day and snapped them up like a fat kid on a bowl of jelly beans, and we each enjoyed one. Wait, I didn't mean to imply that Stacy was like a fat kid...

Anyway, this grapefruit is the first one I've had in about 2 and a half years. So, I savored it. And then blogged about it.

N Not Included

Recently, the new mall in town (which has been under construction for a year or more) finally opened, so Stacy and I went to check it out.

N not included

After poking around, we found a Thai restaurant (the only one in town, that we know of). The menu, though, had some strange fare. See for yourself.

And for dessert:

We opted to skip Thai food and hit up the new Mexican restaurant instead - also the only one in town. (I'm sure Stace will post pictures soon)

There's Many Reasons Why I Love Her...

And this is one of them - Stacy just made the most excellent dinner of all time. Well, since she does it on the regular, it wasn't technically the most excellent, it was just equally as excellent as all the others. Which is pretty dang excellent.

What?! Mashed potatoes, sautéd zucchini, pork roast, and biscuits... from scratch. Yep.

This is what a plate of seconds looks like. Best believe I had seconds!

Happiness is an empty plate of whatever Stacy made for dinner.

Hiking Chongmu

This past Saturday, I went hiking with two friends - Justin (a familiar face on my hiking posts) and Geoff, an Aussie. We drove about 3 hours out of town, to a village in a valley that is pretty much the definition of "middle of nowhere."

Fresh snow made the drive up pretty incredible, with yaks and the occasional nomad tent dotting the landscape as we went.

From time to time, we would get out and talk with the nomads, which was fun, as well.

A nomad camp surrounded by their herd of yak

Dad and mom....

... and the kids.

Continuing on...

Almost there...

The village is at about 16,000 feet elevation, making it one of the highest permanent settlements in the world, not that the inhabitants care - the "village" is just 6 families trying to scratch out an existence in very hard conditions. What makes the village exceptional is that it sits at the base of a mountain that shoots up to ~23,000 feet (which, unfortunately, stayed shrouded in clouds the whole time we were there).

Finally, we arrived at the village. And The Middle of Nowhere.

Skepticism.

Curiosity.

Swagger.

We spent some time in the village and then hiked up the valley a ways (about 3 hours) to about 17,300 feet.

Starting out on the hike.

Taking a break with "Swagger."

View from the top: mountains, snow, and right in the middle at the bottom - a glacier.

I love to hike, but I have to admit that this one really destroyed me for some reason. The last hour of the hike down, I was feeling nauseous and my legs were smoked.

Me and Justin - back down and more than ready to head home.

A Piece(s) of Me Died Today

That piece, of course, was the piece that has been hoarding my lone bag of York Pieces for 6, nay 8, months.

I finished the bag today. It was a solemn, minty-delicious occasion.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow" - William Shakespeare, [Romeo & Juliet, Scene II: Capulet's Orchard]

Lean On Me

I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time - leaning a metal ladder against the power lines you are planning on repairing.

What could possibly go wrong?

Stereotypes

No one (with an education) likes to admit their stereotypes, but let's be honest  - we pretty much all have them. I was unaware of one of mine until I was confronted with it.

I shot this video on a street in Tokyo. In the very center of the shot is an advertisement for an arcade. For adults. In the middle of the day.

As I giggled to myself while filming, I realized that a cartoon ad for an arcade for adults pretty much confirmed a number of stereotypes I have of Japan.

I'm sorry, Japan.

The End of the Roll

It always makes me super curious, and this time I decided to take a picture.

Toilet paper looks like toilet paper pretty much all over the world (at least as far as I've seen), but for some reason, when you get to the end of a Chinese roll of toilet paper - which has up to this point looked completely normal - suddenly things get weird.

It looks like they hired a blind kid to cut the last 4 ply with a straight razor while riding a Tilt-a-Whirl.

How the roll can start so normal and end so strange, I'll never know.

Go Big or Go Home

I like to go big. Sometimes it pays off (asking Stacy to date me) and sometimes it doesn't (I'm thinking of a number of surgeries that have resulted from going too big). Either way, it's still how I roll.

And so, when it comes time to sunburn, I like to go a little bigger than the next guy.

During Whitewater Raft Guide School - Summer 2010

Go Big, (Get Hurt), Go Home.

When Stacy Makes BEC...

(Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Biscuits) like she did today...

I'm pretty much the happiest person on the block. (And yes, I realize that my last 3 posts have been about food)

Oh, did I mention that she makes her biscuits from scratch? So, you know, you've got something to aspire to.